How to Write a Mystery

We love surprises, almost as much as we love being right. As I see it, if I couldn’t predict the ending on House or Law and Order, the show wasn’t set up right. I like a puzzle, but I like one I have a chance of solving. I’ve got to say that the formulas were probably at least 50% of what kept me coming back (I also needed a regular character drama fix, part of what keeps me coming back to Bones LONG after the proverbial shark jump.)

It’s true I don’t read a lot of mystery, but I’m a sucker for some televised brain candy. It may be snooty, but that’s what I think a lot of “genre” writing is: brain candy. Still, I think writing with a formula, learning to apply conventions, is an excellent exercise for the budding author. My kiddos really like it too.

Start with a Classic Example
A classic mystery calls for a classic detective, like Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, or Philip Marlowe. Fortunately for me, Red Wind by Raymond Chandler is online in its entirety. I plan to just give students a taste, the first two chapters, because mostly I want to focus on the conventions for setting up the mystery. Plus Chandler’s got it all: hyperbolic narration, witty repartee, and herrings so red they glow (you might want to do a little cultural scaffolding beforehand to elucidate the meaning of “private dick” for the less mature, though).

Break down Exposition Conventions 
I really like “How to Write a Mystery Whodunit Novel” for breaking down standard plot devices, characterization, and setting. I made a Schoology “quiz” applying several of these elements to the first chapter of Red Wind, wherein students identify characteristics of the protagonist, killer, victim, and witness. Then I have them “rule out” different plot devices designed to conceal the crime that the article lists but which are not possible based on the set up for this particular Chandler story:

• The least likely suspect
• The most obvious suspect
• The perfect alibi
• Having a mastermind criminal

Break down Rising Action: Clues and Red Herrings
Scott Mortenson’s “Fishing and Farming: Red Herrings & Planting Clues” helped me analyze the art of adding evidence and false leads (though it’s a little heavy on the–ahem–“DNA” talk to use with kiddos). I like how he starts with the old joke about the bus driver that’s set up like a word problem to illustrate how to hide clues and his advice on red herrings: “…bait, leading the detective (and reader) away from the truth. But treat them like any other regular clue for the best effect.”

So in another Schoology “quiz” on Chapter 2, I have students put 10 clues in order then explain how different types of evidence Mortenson cites make a character look guilty and how others make her look innocent:

• alibis
• murder weapons
• fingerprints
• physical details
• dialogue
• lies
• relationships
• behavior